Monday, July 15, 2019
Lethal measures off table for controlling wild horse herds
The Trump administration will not pursue lethal measures such as euthanasia or selling horses for slaughter to deal with what officials say is an ecological and fiscal crisis caused by too many wild horses on rangelands in the U.S. West, an official said Thursday.
U.S. Bureau of Land Management Acting Director Casey Hammond told the Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board that those options are not on the table.
"It's not an option that's being discussed," Hammond said. "I don't think it's anything the president would be supportive of, so it's not part of the calculation that we're making." The agency is preparing a report requested by Congress on potential solutions for the wild horse problem.
Federal officials say the nearly 90,000 wild horses in 10 Western states are more than three times appropriate levels. Officials estimate that up to 18,000 foals are born each year.
Another 50,000 wild horses are being held in corrals at a cost of $50 million annually, which is more than half of the Bureau of Land Management's budget for its Wild Horse and Bureau Program.
The six-member panel agreed that killing wild horses to control the population wasn't something they were interested in doing, but also cited the ecological destruction to rangelands and the potential for wild horses held in corrals to exceed 100,000 if current policies continue.
"Our window for being able to act and not have to go there (euthanasia) by force at some point, regardless of what our interests are, are closing," said board member Celeste Carlisle...MORE
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2 comments:
When Congress passed the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act (1971) they actually (accidentally) wrote a fairly good statute that among other things includes Congressional approval for euthanasia and for human consumption of horses that were unsuccessfully offered for private adoption. The key decision making phrase is that horses must be kept in "thriving natural ecological balance" with all other uses, wildlife in particular. The Act of 1971 protects multiple use, wildlife, wildlife habitat, jurisdiction and authority of State Law, and consultation or coordination with State and local agencies.
Failure to limit WFRHB numbers to thriving natural ecological balance were supposed to trigger specific actions to reduce herd numbers in accordance with the law (PL92-195 Section 1332(f)(2))and that includes both euthanasia and human consumption.
Mustangs in Nevada were instantly transformed from feral domestic livestock into a form of animal that is no longer livestock and can never be wildlife under Nevada Law; they became wards of the U.S. taxpayer.
Now anther BLM Director has taken it upon himself to amend the statute. Congress probably won't notice but some people argue that the Executive is not supposed to take on the authority of the Legislative Branch, and here they go again.
Floyd, I posted your comment to my Facebook page.
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